A Veterans Day Poem by the Editor

The Salute

Some say a knight once raised his right

hand to shield his eyes from the dazzling

beauty of the damsel who inspired him

or to she whom he was about to rescue.

Another legend has it that when one knight

encountered another on the field of battle 

each would raise his visor to expose his face

and demonstrate if he be friend or foe.

British soldiers used to remove their headgear

when an officer approached as a sign of respect. 

As headgear became increasingly cumbersome

raising the hand to the visor became the custom.

The oldest legend has it that men would raise

their weapon hands as they approached each other

to demonstrate that they were empty.  The weaker

of the pair was expected to raise his hand first.

But the colonel in charge of the Air Force School

of Aerospace Medicine provided the definition

that was and remains the most meaningful to me. 

When I raised my hand in salute, it meant this:

“I have kept the faith, my brother.  Have you?”
And when my salute was returned, I knew he had.

--Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD, Former USAF Flight Surgeon

ref:  http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/history/vignettes/respect1.html